For those who don't know Latin, this phrase has been variously translated as either: "First, do no harm" or "Above all else, do no harm." It is ingrained into every medical student's brain within a few months of beginning school, and is one of the guiding principles of medical practice.
While popularly thought to be part of the Hippocratic Oath, in truth, such an expression appears nowhere in this oath or in any of the various modern revisions taken by medical students across the country. The origins of the phrase still remain shrouded in mystery, some attribute it to the famous Roman physician Galen (though he, like Hippocrates also wrote in Greek), and a similar phrase appears in the Hippocratic corpus, "As to diseases, make a habit of two things-- to help, or at least to do no harm" (Epidemics, Book I, Section XI)
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